Book Review - Fury by Elizabeth Miles

Publish Date: August 30, 2011
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Pages: 330
ISBN: 978-1-4424-2224-7
Series: Fury
Source: ARC from Simon & Schuster

Goodreads Synopsis:
Sometimes sorry isn't enough.... 
It’s winter break in Ascension, Maine. The snow is falling and everything looks pristine and peaceful. But not all is as it seems... 
Between cozy traditions and parties with her friends, Emily loves the holidays. And this year’s even better--the guy she’s been into for months is finally noticing her. But Em knows if she starts things with him, there’s no turning back. Because his girlfriend is Em’s best friend. 
On the other side of town, Chase is having problems of his own. The stress of his home life is starting to take its toll, and his social life is unraveling. But that’s nothing compared to what’s really haunting him. Chase has done something cruel...something the perfect guy he pretends to be would never do. And it’s only a matter of time before he’s exposed. 
In Ascension, mistakes can be deadly. And three girls—three beautiful, mysterious girls—are here to choose who will pay. 
Em and Chase have been chosen.


My Review:
As it seems I start off a lot of my book reviews talking about the cover of the book, it's only fitting that we start there for Fury too! The cover is beautiful! I may be a little biased (red hair myself) but who wouldn't love the cover with a girl with amazing flowing, long red hair?!
The main idea of Fury is that two people, Chase and Emily (Em), living their own different lives in the same town are chosen by 3 Furies to pay the price of something they have done. We meet Chase and Em along with some other important characters, such as Gabby, Zach, Ty, Drea and my personal favourite, JD. For the most part they are your typical teenage characters - popular, the jocks, trying to fit in, etc. Right away, Chase and Em are not likable characters, but I think that's the point. They have done something horrid, and need to pay, so Miles doesn't make us like them right away. But I really do love what she did with JD's character. He's the friend who is sometimes embarrassing to be seen with (wacky hair, strange clothes) but you love to spend time with, and he's alright with that. To me, JD had the most lasting impression, and every time he appeared I couldn't help but smile!
 I was expecting a little more mythology and paranormal aspects to Fury, it seemed to be lacking that in the long run of things. But overall the story is pretty original and well written though it took about 100 pages or so for me to get into it. But after that, I was really in! Lauren Kate wrote "Achingly gorgeous. Fury seduced me." (quote taken from cover of ARC of Fury) I completely understand and agree with that statement! Fury called to me all hours of the day and night and I needed to read it.
Though it is a bit slower starting out, Fury is an eerie and haunting read. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series because I still have so many questions I need an answer to.

Not book related - but almost as good a topic...

SHOES!!

 And not just any pair of shoes - TOMS shoes! Not only are TOMS super cute to look at, but they have a One for One movement. It's easy, simple and will help improve the lives of children. For each pair of TOMS shoes bought, one pair will be dontated to a child in need!

-One for One-

And just think of how cute you could look sporting these super cute wedges while reading? I'd definitely pick these, they are dressy but casual and would look great in the Summer! 

For more information you can go to the Canadian TOMS website. If you're Canadian and would like a chance to win a pair, you can go here MommyMatter to participate in The Great Canadian Blog Bash!! Good Luck !

Book Review - Wildefire by Karsten Knight

Publish Date: July 26, 2011
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Pages: 393
ISBN: 9781442421172
Series: Wildefire
Source: ARC from Simon & Schuster

Goodreads Synopsis:

Every flame begins with a spark.
Ashline Wilde is having a rough sophomore year. She’s struggling to find her place as the only Polynesian girl in school, her boyfriend just cheated on her, and now her runaway sister, Eve, has decided to barge back into her life. When Eve’s violent behavior escalates and she does the unthinkable, Ash transfers to a remote private school nestled in California’s redwoods, hoping to put the tragedy behind her. But her fresh start at Blackwood Academy doesn’t go as planned. Just as Ash is beginning to enjoy the perks of her new school—being captain of the tennis team, a steamy romance with a hot, local park ranger—Ash discovers that a group of gods and goddesses have mysteriously enrolled at Blackwood…and she’s one of them. To make matters worse, Eve has resurfaced to haunt Ash, and she’s got some strange abilities of her own. With a war between the gods looming over campus, Ash must master the new fire smoldering within before she clashes with her sister one more time… And when warm and cold fronts collide, there’s guaranteed to be a storm.

My Review:
I had no idea what this book was about or anything else until it ended up in my mailbox and then I looked around online. I was amazed at how many readers were (and still are) anxiously awaiting Wildefire. First off, the cover is gorgeous, the Lilly and the purple and the smoke are so eye-catching!
While reading Wildefire, my first thought was that the author is trying too hard. There were words in the sentences that just didn't need to be so big and long. I mean sure, we don't need to use simple words for everything, but I found his wording to be excessive sometimes. Like 2 or 3 words in one sentence that aren't familiar so sounding them out and making sure I had the right meaning would actually make me lose the whole importance to of the sentence. Other than this one set back, the novel was phenomenal!
I've yet to read a book about Polynesian gods and goddesses and I found it very interesting. I'm definitely looking forward to reading the second book in Karsten Knight's series and getting some more useful facts and info on the gods and goddesses. Also, with the next book, I'm hoping to get a little more character development with Ade and the others. Knight did have some development here, but in order to connect some more and really know the characters personally, I need more in the next book. (I know there was the part about the types of gods/goddesses they are, and believe me, that part was excellent and I really enjoyed it, but something is missing)
Ash and Eve are great characters though. We learn a bit about them and why Eve is the way she is, and why she does the things she does. I absolutely love Ash and her sarcastic tongue. She was entertaining and I'm glad Knight kept that up throughout the whole novel. We learn a little something about Colt that will make for an interesting plot in upcoming novels, and the cliffhanger at the end of the book had me turning back pages to make sure I had it right.
I read this books quickly and now I'm ready for the next one by Karsten Knight. I think we're in for some good and promising novels and I, for one cannot wait!
Pick up Wildefire when you can, it's a thrilling read and will keep you up until the wee hours of the night!

The Great Canadian Blog Bash - Giveaway

I`m excited to be participating in The Great 2011 Canadian Blog Bash hosted by:

Nancy at Whispered Inspirations, Patty at Pampered Patty, Kat at Kat`s Confessions, Steph at Good Girl Gone Green, and Jennifer at Mom vs the Boys.

This blog hop is place for Canadian Bloggers to get together to showcase our amazing Country and the people who make it what it is. Each blog participating will be a giveaway sponsored by Canadians - wether it be themselves, or a Canadian company and it`s open to Canadians only.

What am I giving away? Well seeing as my blog is a book blog, I thought why not some books and swag from some of our great Canadian authors!

Here's what's up for grabs:

(clicking on book picture will take you to Goodreads for description)

Signed, hardcover copy of Kelley Armstrongs Living With the Dead (Women of the Otherworld #9)
 *Note: this is an adult book*

Copy of Up Up Up Stories by Julie Booker

Copy of Mind Gap by Marina Cohen
*Note: this is a YA (Young Adult) book*

And some signed bookmarks and postcards from Denise Jaden author of Losing Faith

Deatils:

One winner gets it all!

Must be a GFC follower
Canadian Only
Giveaway open June 24 2011 - July 1st 2011 (winner will be chosen by Random.org, announced on my blog, and emailed and have until July 5th to claim their prize or another winner will be chosen)

Fill out this form to enter!

I do love comments, but they will not count as an entry.

For more giveaways on this hop, go here.

*Disclaimer - Prizes we donated to me by authors and will be sent by them (except the Swag from Denise Jaden which will be sent by me) Due to the Canadian Postal strike I cannot guarantee a delivery date. I am not responsible for packages not being delivered and/or recieved*

In My Mailbox (June 19, 2011)

In My Mailbox credit goes to The Story Siren

Fun, and easy week this week!

Bought:
Bad Girls Don't Die by Katie Alender
Heist Society by Ally Carter
(Last week I got the second book of both these series, so I was able to grab the first book at Chapters to read first!)

Won:
Overprotected by Jennifer Laurens - Signed and personalized copy! Yippee!!

What's in your mailbox this week?

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2

Because we can't get too much Harry Potter in one day...



This is amazing. I've watched it over and over and it gets better each time! I'm so excited for this movie.

Book Review - Losing Faith by Denise Jaden

Publish Date: September 7, 2010
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Pages: 377
ISBN: 978-1-41699-609-5
Series: None
Source: Won from author


Goodreads Synopsis: 
A terrible secret. A terrible fate.

When Brie's sister, Faith, dies suddenly, Brie's world falls apart. As she goes through the bizarre and devastating process of mourning the sister she never understood and barely even liked, everything in her life seems to spiral farther and farther off course. Her parents are a mess, her friends don’t know how to treat her, and her perfect boyfriend suddenly seems anything but.

As Brie settles into her new normal, she encounters more questions than closure: Certain facts about the way Faith died just don't line up. Brie soon uncovers a dark and twisted secret about Faith’s final night...a secret that puts her own life in danger.

My Review:

I don't generally read a lot of YA Contemporary. I usually read YA with magic, vampires, wolves, angels, etc. But once in a while I like to keep it real. Normally that's when I'd pull out a Jodi Picoult or Nicholas Sparks novel to read but this time because I've had my eye on this one for some time, I read this!

Denise Jaden tackles a very tough issue - religion. I think this is one of the hardest types of books to get into and really enjoy because of all of the different views on religion. Sometimes authors come across as preachy, and I can't stand this. Thankfully Jaden writes about religion respectfully and not once does it come across as preaching things to us. Religion was merely there as part of the story- not to be drilled into our heads.

The characters in Losing Faith are simple but not dull. Brie seems just like any other girl her age trying to fit in, have friends and then find out answers about her sisters death. Tessa is your goth/bad-ass chick, but when you get to really know her, you realize there's much more to her than her appearance. Alis is your cute guy who comes into the picture and steals the heart of some. What I loved about this YA contempt book was that Denise Jaden didn't overdo Alis' good looks/rock solid arms/chiseled chin/ whatever else could describe a good looking male lead character (as some YA  books do -- nothing wrong with this -- but  we can't always have  unrealistically good looking males!) Jaden made it clear that while yes, Alis is a good looking guy, he isn't being drooled over by every single girl character in the book. So this is what I mean by simple but not dull.

It's refreshing to read a book with real life situations, and Losing Faith is full of real life. It's emotional and well written with a plot that moved along nicely. It's worth the read!

Mysterious Harry Potter news...

Apparently, I'm a little behind, but today on Twitter I saw this:

"Harry Potter fans flock to JKRowling's mysterious new site, Pottermore http://gu.com/p/3vvet/tf #bookculture"

(note: that link takes you to the Guardian news site, NOT the Harry Potter site)

Clicking on the picture below will take you to the Pottermore site

What?! Pottermore...so that means more Potter! How exciting is that? What could this all mean?
Check out this countdown here on YouTube and start guessing!

There's talk that it could be a new book, (though a spokesperson and confirmed that it is NOT a new book) an encyclopedia, among other ideas!
What do think it could be? Are you as excited as I am (and I know my daughter will be when she's home from school and sees this good news!)

We'll all have to wait and see what this exciting and mysterious news is!

Book Review - Unbelievable by Sara Shepard

Publish Date: December 1st, 2008
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 368
ISBN: 978-0-06088-741-4
Series: Pretty Little Liars (#4)
Source: Bought

Goodreads Synopsis:
Four pretty little liars' charmed lives have turned into living nightmares.
Emily's been shipped off to Iowa to live with her überconservative cousins. Aria's boyfriend is behind bars—because of her. Spencer's afraid she was involved in Ali's murder. But Hanna's fate is far worse: She's clinging to life in the hospital because she knew too much.
If these girls don't start listening to me, Hanna's going to look like the lucky one.

My Review:
As with the other 3 PLL books, this one was great. The writing was consistant, the characters were true to themselves. In this book we find out so much but we're still left with a huge cliff-hanger at the end. I was really looking forward to reading this after the end of Perfect, to continue the story and see what happened! And boy oh boy did we learn some great things!! There was so much revealed in Unbelievable and it was truly exciting!
Though I really enjoy reading these books, I've stopped reading them as of now, only because I'm not sure there was a need to continue the series. I feel like it could have been wrapped up in Unbelievable and left here for us to love. So I just don't feel like reading anymore of these right now. That's not to say that I'll never pick up the other books to read, but  I have so many (new and different) promising books to read, that I'm just sticking with those.

In My Mailbox (June 13, 2011)

In My Mailbox credit goes to The Story Siren

A fun mailbox this week!

For Review:

Eden (The Keeper Chronicles) by Michelle Haley | Goodreads Synopsis Signed and personalized copy!!

From Bad To Cursed (Bad Girls Don't Die #2) by Katie Alender | Goodreads Synopsis

The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab | Goodreads Synopsis

Uncommon Criminals (Heist Society #2) by Ally Carter | Goodreads Synopsis

Waterbottle and playing cards for the Disney Hyperion Teen unRequired Reading

Won:

Passion by Lauren Kate - Thanks to my online book club for this one!

Thanks Simon & Schuster and Disney/Hyperion Teen for the books and swag this week!

Because I love Harry Potter so much.

Nothing like a good trip down memory lane, with a few new moments here and there!



Exciting!!

In My Mailbox (June 5, 2011)

Look at this stack of books!!!

In My Mailbox credit goes to The Story Siren

Ok, so last week I didn't get any books in my mailbox (or the week before last either!) But I definitely made up for it this week!

Bought:

Dreaming Anistasia by Joy Preble - A few weeks ago I won a signed and personalized copy of Haunted (Dreaming Anistasia #2), so while The Book Depository was having their extra 10% off, I decided I'd use it to get the first book in the series.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

The Guardian by Nicholas Sparks - I love this book!

The Spiderwick Chronicles Book #1

For Review:

Witchlanders by Lena Coakley | Goodreads Synopsis

Dust & Decay (Benny Imura #2) by Jonathan Maberry | Goodreads Synopsis

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin | Goodreads Synopsis

Fury (Fury #1) by Elizabeth Miles | Goodreads Synopsis

A HUGE thanks again to the lovely people at Simon & Schuster! You guys make my day when I get mail from you! (I was expecially happy when I got The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer!!) Thanks again!

What did you guys get in your mailbox? Leave a comment with a link to your post, and I'll make sure to check it out!